By Anthony Gulizia, Globe Correspondent

NEWTON -- All eyes were on Newton North junior guard Michael Thorpe, but it was Weymouth's Jared Terrell who stole the show.

The 6-foot-2-inch sophomore guard scored eight points and recorded four steals in the fourth quarter to steer the No. 15 Wildcats to a 56-51 win over the No. 2 Tigers. Terrell finished with 14 points and five rebounds.

"Jared [Terrell] is just a freakish athlete," Weymouth coach Jim Dolan said after the win. "We needed him to step up, make a couple steals and finish and he did that."

After Newton North's sharp-shooting guard Thorpe went on a 13-point tear in the third quarter, the Tigers carried a slim 36-34 lead into the final frame. Thorpe finished with 24 points on the night to lead all scorers.

Newton North opened the fourth quarter with a free throw by freshman Aaron Falzon, but Weymouth senior guard Jon Perez drained a 3-pointer to tie the game 37-37.

Weymouth responded with an 8-2 run, courtesy of six points by Terrell. The high-flying guard stole an errant pass, dribbled the length of the court and threw down a thunderous dunk. Terrell scored on the Wildcats' next possession before giving the Tigers defense a bad case of deja vu.

Once again, Terrell stepped in the way of a pass, dribbled the length of the court and slammed it home.

"It's a big momentum change," Terrell said. "You gotta anticipate the steals and everything just comes to you."

After Falzon scored and ended the Wildcats run, Newton North pulled within four, trailing 45-41.

But Terrell struck again and stole his fourth pass of the quarter and landed his third dunk.

"Jared Terrell shooting a dunk is a very high percentage shot," Newton North coach Paul Connolly said. "When you give up those little bit of runs in a possession game, those are huge plays."

After Weymouth hit two free throws and Falzon hit a pair of his own, the Tigers trailed 51-48. Newton North junior Luke Westman went to the line, but missed two free throws.

Westman added one more free throw on the next possession, but Wildcat junior Khary Bailey-Smith went to the line and added two for a 53-49 lead.

Tiger senior Avi Adler-Cohen hit a jumper to make it a two point game with 17 seconds left, but Bailey-Smith added another free throw for the 54-51 lead. With the clock winding down, Adler-Cohen missed a 3-pointer and Bailey-Smith iced the game with two more free throws.

The victory was only Dolan's second against Newton North in the past eight years.

"I'm really proud of my kids," he said. "We want to get better everyday and it happened to come against Newton North."

Weymouth improves to 8-0 on the season while Newton North falls to 5-2.